Two weeks ago, a scorecard was released naming the top 24 countries in the world for cloud computing. These countries were selected for being the biggest players in the world’s IT market, comprising about 80% of the entire market. They were scored based on the countries’ legislative and private climate for promoting and expanding cloud technologies.

Among the topics that affect a country’s overall “cloud climate,” in the opinion of the BSA, are: its stance on user privacy, free-trade, cybercrime, cybersecurity, and broadband network.

Technology policy counsel at the BSA, Chris Hopfensperger, critiqued the progress made since the release of last year’s global cloud-computing scorecard, calling it “patchy,” but stated that the BSA holds out hope that the cloud-inhibiting legislation that exists today will eventually be overtaken by the good kind of legislation that encourages the expansion of reliable cloud hosting technologies.

Who Scored the Highest Score?

This is the second time that Japan has been awarded the #1 spot, being called the friendliest atmosphere for the progression of cloud technologies in the world. The honor is owing to the country’s dedication to user security and privacy, as well as its stringent posture against cybercrime. In addition, Japan has an increasing rate of broadband acceptance which has contributed to its #1 ranking.

Trailing Japan, also for the second year in a row, was Australia, and the first switch up went to the US, who traded spots with Germany for 3rd place. The decision-makers at the BSA justified the switch in a statement that US cloud providers have made extensive progress in the refinement of US-based cloud technologies. The switch is at this time not owed to improvements in policies made by the government.

And the winners are…

1. Japan

2. Australia

3. United States

4. Germany

5. Singapore

In the span of a year, Singapore jumped from 9th place to 5th after enacting a data privacy law, while Germany’s decline to 4th is owed to what is being called “potentially restrictive privacy laws, protectionist policies.”

Who Scored the Lowest Points?

The five worst environments for cloud computing:

1. South Africa

2. Indonesia

3. Brazil

4. Thailand

5. Vietnam

These five countries scored low in the areas of data and user privacy, free-trade policies (or lack of), data security, and their inability or lack of cooperation in conforming with global cloud standards.

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Unless you happen to be a molecular physicist, molecular physics just got interesting. Especially to IT providers in all locales, new, specially designed molecules now hold a significant key to unlocking ultra-efficient data storage. Soon, data center managers will be able to store insane amounts of data in specialized layers of molecules. The concept might defy belief, but it won’t be long before data storage manufacturers are taking serious note of the new technology. Dubbed “molecular memory,” in a decade’s time it could mean that IT reps will be storing as much as 1,000TB of data in as little as a square inch of space. Hopefully the final outcome will be more energy- and space-efficient data centers worldwide.

The technology is exciting, especially when you consider that the discovery of molecular memory will only accelerate the search for more, improved alternatives to traditional data storage. The molecule used in the research, which was conducted in an MIT lab, was first developed and produced in India by chemists at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER).

How the Science Behind it Works

By controling the magnetic conductivity of the molecules, researchers replicated binary 1s and 0s in accordance with the state of the molecules’ magnetism. This creates molecular memory, which allows us to store even more data in a miniscule amount of space.

How It’s Done

Previous versions of the new tech needed two ferromagnetic electrodes, but the recent discovery of a new type of molecule allowed the use of one ferromagnetic electrode and a single layer of molecules. Before, many layers were required in a working device. The most recent improvements to the technology would cut down manufacturing costs in the event that the product is mass produced in the future. Other discoveries made during research also suggest that with further development, the devices will be better equipped for utilization in data centers, which will prove to be a definite boon to IT professionals who are constantly managing temperatures within their facilities.

What Does it Mean?

Jagadeesh Moodera led the research team at MIT and anticipates that workable storage devices modeled after “molecular memory” will be available as alternative options to traditional SSD systems by 2023 or within the next decade. Consequent benefits of the technology will be a better use of the energy to power and cool the devices in data center facilities as well as a more efficient use of hard drive space.

As the technology is adopted by data center technicians in numerous quarters, their goals for better performing hardware and more efficient usage of resources are sure to be reached. Additionally, Moodera is hopeful that his research will promote a sustained interest in memory solutions like this one.

Source: http://www.cio.com/article/727287/New_Molecules_Could_Bring_Super_dense_Solid_state_Hard_Disk_Alternatives